Back story: One of my favorite restaurant dishes is the Butternut Squash Ravioli at Cactus Club. That is saying something for this meat-loving girl! I remember I selected it from the menu because it looked like something I wouldn't typically make at home. From the butternut squash-stuffed ravioli to the truffle sauce to the pine nuts and sage leaf, it looked like a dish with which to be reckoned.
Present day: During our trip to Costco yesterday we noticed some tortellini was on sale. Sweet! While I compared some prices and tossed it in our cart, our son noticed some red-striped pasta. I noticed it was a butternut squash ravioli and after little deliberation decided to add it to the cart too. THAT is saying something for this don't-veer-from-the-shopping-list-unless-it-is-on-sale girl! Tonight I decided to tackle it.
I didn't necessarily want to copy my beloved meal, but I wanted to capture it's essence. Dramatic, eh? After a quick Google search, I was able to find a knock-off recipe of the sauce with at least a list of ingredients (for some reason many of the measurements weren't showing up on the site). The sauce at the Cactus Club is oil-based, and from the ingredient list it looked like truffle oil is a main ingredient. Well, I don't have that in my pantry. Someday I would like to cook with it, but today I stuck with what I had on hand. Here is what I did:
Sage Cream Sauce:
*the measurements are approximations since I did a lot of dumping and taste-testing
Melt:
1/4 cup butter
Whisk in:
1 heaping Tbsp flour
Add:
1 1/2 to 2 cups cream
a splash of rice wine vinegar
a glug of white wine (I actually used red wine because it was on hand, but white wine is preferable.)
Stir until thickened.
Add:
1 tsp. ground sage, or to taste
Salt and pepper, to taste
I have to say, this sauce really added to the ravioli. The kids also loved the sauce and doused their chicken in it too :).
